CREATING A CUSTOM SMART TITLE BLOCK Vectorworks tutorial by Andy Broomell, updated

Transcription

1 CREATING A CUSTOM SMART TITLE BLOCK Vectorworks tutorial by Andy Broomell, updated INTROD UCTION This tutorial provides instructions on creating a custom title block which can easily be added to sheet borders. Some pieces of text will be smart, meaning the text it displays can be variable (either typed in or pulled from the Sheet Layer on which it s placed). There are four main steps to setting up a smart title block: 1. Drafting the title block and making it a Symbol. 2. Creating a custom Record Format (or collection of fields). 3. Linking the Record Format Fields to the Text objects within the Symbol. 4. Attaching the title block to a Sheet Border on a Sheet Layer DOC UM ENT SETUP Before starting this project, make sure that Automatic Drawing Coordination is turned on in your document: 1. Click on the Quick Preferences flyout on the righthand side of the toolbar near the top of the screen. 2. Select Document Preferences 3. In the Display tab, make sure that Use Automatic Drawing Coordination is checked. Automatic Drawing Coordination is a setting that allows Vectorworks to automatically coordinate the naming of certain elements, such as Sheet Numbers, Sheet Names, and Drawing Titles. Since it s a per-document setting, if you change it in one file it doesn t affect other files. If you make sure that it s on in the template from which you start new projects, you won t have to worry about this step again! Page 1 of 5

2 STEP 1: DR AFT THE TITLE BLOCK AND M AK E IT A SYMBOL The first step is to design your title block. Your title block will vary from the example to the right depending on your design aesthetic and the functional needs of your title block. 1. In a new document, create or go to a sheet layer that s set up to the size at which you most often print 2. Design/draft your title block directly on the Sheet Layer. For landscape Arch D (24x36 ) with ½ margins, a full-height title block would be drafted at 23, for example. Use objects such rectangles, lines, text, images, etc. All objects should be on the None class or a specific class such as [SL]-Borders/Titleblocks. For best results, avoid setting attributes (line-weight, pen color, etc.) to Class Style. If you don t do this and later find that your font is unexpectedly changing, select your text objects and set the Pen Style to Solid rather than Class Style. Take note of the Horiz. and Vert. align settings of Text objects. With fields whose text varies in length, the text will expand or contract based on this alignment. 3. Each field that you want to become smart needs to be its own chunk of text. Ex: Scale: 1/4 = pieces of text, since the Scale: label never changes, but the scale itself will. Ex: Plate 1 of 5 4 pieces of text, since the plate number and total number of plates are individual fields that change independently. 4. Once you ve laid out your title block, it needs to be created into a Symbol: a. Select all the objects, then go to Modify < Create Symbol (Ctrl+K in the UC-Irvine Workspace). b. Name your Symbol. c. Make sure Insertion Point is set to Next Mouse Click then click OK. d. Set the insertion point to the lower righthand corner of your title block. e. The symbol is now in your Resource Browser; you will also have an instance of the symbol on your Sheet Layer. f. Since the title block will need to be inserted as part of a Sheet Border (see Step 4), you can delete this symbol instance. Page 2 of 5

3 STEP 2: CRE ATE A C USTOM RECORD FORM AT 1. Create a new Record Format by double clicking on a blank area in the Resource Browser and selecting Record Format. Name your Record Format. (eg. AEB Title Block Records ) 2. Within the Record Format dialogue box, create a new Record Field for each text object that you want to be smart. Click on New and the Edit Field dialog box will pop up. Name is what the field will be labeled later when you double click the title block to enter information. (See Field Name Modifiers below). Type should usually be set to Text. Default is the placeholder text that will show up until you enter specific information into your title block. Ex:?/? = 1-0 for scale, or # for plate number See example Record Format below. Your fields may differ depending on the functionality of your title block. 3. Field Name Modifiers: Use the P_ prefix to indicate a project field, meaning that you want the field to automatically be the same on ALL sheets. Use the S_ prefix to indicate a sheet field, meaning you may want it to be different from sheet to sheet. When you use your title block later, the P_ and S_ fields are separated into Project and Sheet tabs (see below). Fields that aren t given a prefix are placed in the General tab (not used here). Use the _SN suffix for the Sheet Number. This will automatically coordinate with the Sheet Number of the Sheet Layer. When you update one it ll automatically update the other. Use the _SD suffix for the Sheet Title. This makes the Sheet Title in your title block automatically coordinate with the name of the Sheet Layer. When you update one it ll automatically update the other. To create a multi-line field, append a pound sign (#) to the end of the field name. By default, fields are only one line. Page 3 of 5

4 STEP 3: LINK THE FI ELDS TO TH E TEXT OBJECTS 1. In the Resource Browser find the title block Symbol you made earlier. Right click to Edit the 2D side of the Symbol. 2. Attach each of the Record Fields to the associated Text objects within the Symbol: a. Select the desired Text object. b. Go to Tools < Records < Link Text to Record (Ctrl+Alt+R in the UC-Irvine Workspace). c. In the upper list select the Record Format you created; in the lower list select the appropriate Record Field and Click OK. d. Repeat for each field / text object. e. Exit the Symbol. f. Your title block is ready to use! STEP 4: ATT ACH THE TITLE BLOC K TO S HEET BOR DER 1. Place a Sheet Border (in the Dims/Notes tool set ) onto your Sheet Layer. 2. In the Object Info Palette, click on Border Settings and make sure the Horizontal and Vertical dimensions match your paper size and are the OUTSIDE dimensions. Click OK. 3. Click on Title Block to attach your custom title block to the Sheet Border. Navigate to your symbol and click OK. For a title block to function it needs to be inserted in this way rather than as an instance of the symbol. Note: Once attached to a Sheet Border, your title block Symbol is automatically moved into a Symbol Folder called Sheet Border Components. You can go back and edit things in your title block at any point. 4. Make sure all your Sheet Border settings are correct on one Sheet Layer, then duplicate this Sheet Layer for additional pages (when you duplicate a Layer it duplicates everything on that layer as well.) You can also copy Sheet Borders from one Sheet Layer to another. 5. TO USE A TITLE BLOCK: Double click the border/title block to edit fields as needed (shown at right). If set up correctly, your fields are divided into Project and Sheet tabs, and if you change the Sheet Title or Plate Number it should change the name/number of the Sheet Layer accordingly. Vice verse, if you rename a Sheet Layer or change its Sheet Number, this change will automatically be reflected in that sheet s title block. Page 4 of 5

5 EXAM PLE BLOOD Y BLOODY AN DREW JAC KS ON, UCI 2013 Didn t use (had show logo) Creating the Record Format Editing the title block (double click) Navigation / View bar Page 5 of 5